Town of Winchester Fire & EMS Receives $10,000 Grant from State Farm® Good Neighbor Firefighter Safety Program for Needed Equipment.

The Town of Winchester Fire & EMS is excited to announce that it is one of 150 volunteer fire departments across the country to receive a $10,000 grant through the State Farm® Good Neighbor Firefighter Safety Program.  In collaboration with the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), State Farm has awarded $1.5 million in grants to help local volunteer fire departments purchase needed equipment that improves responder safety, effectiveness and their ability to serve their communities.

With this grant, the Town of Winchester Fire & EMS will be purchasing Turnout gear for firefighters, Thermal Imaging Camera and charger for truck, Milwaukee Scene Lighting Tower, and M-18 batteries and chargers for upgraded fire scene tools.

The Town of Winchester Fire Department is celebrating its 10th year of operations after the joint Clayton-Winchester department was dissolved and two stand-alone departments were formed in 2016.

“We are still a relatively young fire department, and we have many needs,” said Chief Tim Kempen. “We have a modest budget that we work within, and we take seriously being good stewards of the resources we are provided. We also rely heavily on organizations and community members who financially support our department and help us purchase equipment that falls outside of our regular operating budget.

“Being selected for grants like the State Farm Good Neighbor Firefighter Safety Program provides much-needed budget relief and helps us put important equipment in the hands of our firefighters and first responders. Having the right equipment and tools is essential to keeping them safe and effective on incident scenes.

The Town of Winchester Fire & EMS is grateful to State Farm and the National Volunteer Fire Council for investing in the safety of our responders and helping us continue to provide dependable emergency responses for our community.  Our local State Farm Representative Katie Coppersmith was very instrumental in helping us with getting this grant.

Thank you!